Angelina Jolie, director of Louis Zamperini biopic, says she will ‘miss him terribly’

This undated photo provided by Universal Pictures, Angelina Jolie is photographed with Louis Zamperini. Zamperini, a U.S. Olympic distance runner and World War II veteran who survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed, then endured two years in Japanese prison camps, died Wednesday, July 2, 2014, according to Universal Pictures studio spokesman Michael Moses. He was 97. Jolie is directing the Universal movie, "Unbroken," about the life of Zamperini. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)

Angelina Jolie, director of a biopic on Louis Zamperini released a statement on Zamperini’s death saying she will miss him. “It is a loss impossible to describe,” Jolie said in a statement. “We are all so grateful for how enriched our lives are for having known him. We will miss him terribly.”

The movie is based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling book on Zamperini “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption,” which is scheduled for a December release by Universal.

In May, Zamperini was named grand marshal of the 2015 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, which next New Year’s Day will feature the theme “Inspiring Stories.”

In accepting the honor, Zamperini, wearing a USC cap, recalled that Hillenbrand, in researching the book, asked to interview his friends from college and the Army.

“And now after the book was finished all of my college buddies are dead, all of my war buddies are dead. It’s sad to realize that you’ve lost all your friends,” he said. “But I think I made up for it. I made a new friend — Angelina Jolie. And the gal really loves me, she hugs me and kisses me, so I can’t complain.”

He was a guest of Jolie last year when she was presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.